Fish and Amphibians

In 1939, a population of orangutans was found in the Batang Toru jungle in South Tapanuli on the Indonesian island of Sumatra. They were thought to be Sumatran orangutangs, but in 2017 scientists discovered they were an entirely new species – the Tapanuli orangutan . Five years earlier, in 2012, Indonesia had announced a US$1.6 billion hydropower project on the Batang Toru River. Some local jungle has since been cleared for the project, which is due to be completed in 2022. This has left the Tapanuli orangutan population, already critically endangered due to habitat fragmentation, facing complete collapse. In June 2018, 25 leading environmentalists wrote to Indonesia’s president, Joko Widodo, calling for a halt to further development in the area. Chinese financial institutions and businesses have prominent roles in the Batang Toru hydropower project , which is part of China’s Belt and Road Initiative (BRI). It is just one example of the impact the BRI is having – or could have –...

The Togo slippery frog lives amidst the waterfalls and forests of eastern Ghana. Just three inches long in adulthood, with skin the color of glistening mud, its nondescript appearance belies a fascinating history. It belongs to a family of frogs that dates back 70 million years to the late Cretaceous period, when dinosaurs still roamed the earth. Hunted for its meat so relentlessly over the last 5,000 years that for decades it was feared to be extinct, today it’s one of the most endangered amphibians on the planet. Alongside more than 100 other species in 50 countries around the world, the Togo slippery frog is protected by EDGE of Existence, which stands for “Evolutionarily Distinct and Globally Endangered” and is funded by the Zoological Society of London (ZSL). EDGE is the only global initiative of its kind, training early-career conservationists and emphasizing local ownership of habitat protection — and ZSL, in turn, is one of the world’s most iconic zoological organizations. It...

At a time when society increasingly looks to science for answers, UC Davis experts weigh in on imparting knowledge that increases understanding, engages audiences and breaks down barriers. Photos by Karin Higgins and Gregory Urquiaga When Ben Young Landis ’03 was a student at UC Davis, he had a passion for science and a knack for storytelling — but he didn’t know how to combine those interests. “Talk of science communication wasn’t prevalent,” said Landis. “It wasn’t spoken in the same breath as academic development and technical training. But that has changed.” Over the past two decades, the science communication field has grown as modern scientists aim to share their science with a wider network — including the general public. Members of the UC Davis community — including faculty members and alumni — are part of an increasing number of science communicators who are carving out new roles in academia, industry and journalism. They have been working steadil...

Published Saturday, Aug. 29, 2020, 7:14 pm Front Page » Local/State News » Collaboration with U.S. Air Force helps restore, protect endangered salamander Join AFP's 100,000+ followers on Facebook Purchase a subscription to AFP | Subscribe to AFP podcasts on iTunes News, press releases, letters to the editor: augustafreepress2@gmail.com Advertising inquiries: freepress@ntelos.net Twitter Facebook WhatsApp LinkedIn Reddit Tumblr Email By David Fleming In April of this year, young salamanders emerged from two northwestern Florida wetlands where they hadn’t been seen in over a decade. Their presence is the result of a long-term collaborative recovery effort between Virginia Tech and  Eglin Air Force Base . The project has led to an increase in the numbers and distribution of federally endangered reticulated flatwoods salamanders in the Florida panhandle and offers potential new avenues for conservationists to successfully bring back endangered amphibians. “Milita...

C onsider the tamandua.  A semiarboreal anteater native to South America, the gentle tamandua spends its hours and days foraging for bugs. Micah, a tamandua at the Los Angeles Zoo, is one of the park’s “ambassador animals,” so his typical day might also include roaming the zoo’s expansive grounds, conducting impromptu meet-and-greets with the hundreds of thousands of humans who make their way through the park every year. Today, however, thanks to the pandemic, Micah is roaming and foraging near the flamingo exhibit with nary a person in sight. Does he miss the crowds, I wonder? His keeper, Madison Quintanar, gently laughs at the question, before telling me that, well, Micah still gets to hang out with keepers and staffers, and given that tamanduas are really more interested in eating (“food motivated,” she calls it) than socializing, no, not really. Over at the Campo Gorilla Reserve, it’s a different story. A group of keepers and I are watching a cluster of western lowland gorilla...